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Take Charge of Your Appliances
You can control any
electrical device that plugs into an outlet in your house with
X10's ActiveHome
system. Talk about plug and play! If you've got a morning
routine, you can automate those mundane tasks: Let ActiveHome
turn on the hall light, start the coffee maker, and open the
garage door. Going out of town? Use the system as a security
safeguard to turn on lights, radio, and TV--all at different
times--and make the house look lived in. All for $50.
Load the ActiveHome
software onto your PC, and you can choose individual devices or
groups of devices and set on/off commands at will from an
easy-to-use drop-down menu. The signals run through the wiring
in your home; no wireless cards or extra cabling are needed.
The starter kit comes
with only two plug-in modules, but you can buy more modules and
switches ($13 to $40 apiece) for just about any electric
appliance--from hair curlers, cable boxes, and VCRs to pumps,
sprinkler systems, fans, and TVs. The most complicated piece of
the system is the remote control. It requires 12 pages of
instructions to describe how it works. ActiveHome fits anyone
who yearns for greater control, even when they aren't around.
Frank Thorsberg
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